Strength training is complicated

This week's question

Strength training seems so complicated, how do I know what exercises to do?

My answer - strength training is a lot like Mexican food. Stay with me for a minute here. I love Mexican food, I get excited to try new restaurants and new dishes. However, when you break it down, most items on the menu at a Mexican restaurant are made up of 5 ingredients -beans, cheese, meat, tortilla, salsa. They can be combined in different orders, different ratios etc to get different dishes, but when you break it down, its all a combination of the same thing.

I look at strength training the same way. We can look at Crossfit, bodybuilding, even a well designed late stage physical therapy program, and we can break it down to 5 main movements. Push, pull, hinge, squat, core/carry.

So, if you are trying to build yourself a strength workout, just like if you are trying to create a Mexican dish, stick to the basic ingredients and combine them in a way that works for you.

Do one exercise where you push weight away from your body, one where you pull it towards, one where you squat, one where you hinge at your hips, and one for your core. If your doing this, your doing alright.

if you need help progressing or regressing these exercises, or combining them in the right way for your body, send us an email at info@perfecttenpt.com